Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-12-15
COLBY SCHOOLS.

A visit to the Different departr
and What Was Seen and : CO.. e''
Some Reflections on the n.''
tIes Of Patrols Of ~.
Schools a.,d Some rec
ommendatIono which
might tend to their
Better Conduct.
One, entering the room of .. vel, RIM
Quoted school, experiences a uecu,ia,
sensation-the mind is, at once. carried
back to the old school roc I'M and mate,
of long ago, every desk. and eyery face
(which and whom Sc ans familiar. as
though it were but y esterday. that he
was part and parcel of busy throng
similar to that in nose presence he now
IS Besides 'n.s' n the busy hum Of the
uneasy work OF The pupil, the mind
speculates VIII =. the outcome all this pre-
paratlon is g ding to be on the individual
pupil. 10 nder boy may. in the future,
move Tn world by his yet unfolded
genius in some great invention, or, by
some heroic act, Or, in developing some
plT n to ameliorate or advance the inter-
.sts of humanity. That girl may tax e
, high rank in social life, or, in some of
the great fields of human work that are
now open to her occupation. Every one
of these children are to take upon them
the duties OF citizenship, and upon their
proper mind development and social
training the future of our nation ana
state must depend. Not every one, by
great odds, will be genius, such will
come to the front by his or her inherent
power, but everyone ought to be, and
can be good citizen, with practical
knowledge and capability to gain the re-
spect and appreciation of the community
into which he or she may be thrown. To
bring this about in the mass, is the object
and aim of our common school system of
education, and to that end we should
earnestly support everything connected
with our common schools.
The public schools of Colby, as now
conducted. are entitled to great respect
and confidence To those of our citizens,
who by reason of numerous duties, or
otherwise, are unable to visit the school
room, and to the public generally. we
give the following facts concerning our
schools:
Just at the present time, among other
disadvantages, our teachers are laboring
under that of inadequate and poorly
adapted school room. Happily this will
be Obviated SO soon as our new, hand
some and commOdiOus school building
NOW being erected at a cost of $10.OO0.)
is completed, which will be by spring at
farthest. The Colby schools are divided
into three departments, viz: l. The
principals department. This now occu-
pies the district court room in the court
house, and is presided over by Prof w.
T. Sullivan, an able, experienced and
successful instructor: gentleman in
every why worthy of the position he &C.
cupies. In this department there are
now enrolled forty -four pupils, pursuing
the higher course of study prescribed for
our common schools. Prof. Sullivan
teaches largely the system of topical rec
and from the Rotations we
Judge that he is drilling the youth under
his care after thorough and practical
fashion. 2. The intermediate depart
ment, at the head of which is Miss Hattie
DERRICK, a young lady Of our city, who
was so successful in conducting the pri-
mary department last year. In this de-
partment are enrolled some 45 children,
the average attendance being about 49,
This room is kept under complete con-
troll, and the pupils gave evidence in their
that these were made interest
ing by their teacher. 3. The primary
department When the intermediate de-
partment was formed. and Miss Dedrick
called upon to take that in charge, her
successor in the primary department was
Miss Edith Lawrence, a yonng lady from
near Quickville, in this county. At the
time of our visit about 60 children of 6
years and upawrds were engaged in the
slate. letter, chart and spelling exercises
Incident to the first term in school. The &,
system here adopted tends toward that
IF the kindergarten. and Miss Lawrence
has succeeded in winning the love and
confidence of the children under her
,harge in the short time she has been j.,
With them; the interest the little ones
showed in their various exercises proves
hat in selecting Miss Lawrence for this
lrduous position, the directors acted |,
wisely.
The two last named departments are
held in the old school building, which i,
has been partltioned into two rooms for ,
his purpose. To get into the iDtermedi-
tie, one has to pass through the primary
Dom, causing trouble and Inconvenience.
From all that we observed. we should
Judge that our schools were well handled,
'ut different division than that now
existing would seem advisable The
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